


Don't Fall In Love With Me

by HomeForImaginaryFriends



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Office, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Violence, Opposites Attract, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22027975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomeForImaginaryFriends/pseuds/HomeForImaginaryFriends
Summary: There is no way that Kuroo Tetsurou, the head of the research department, would ever fall for the likes of far too stern and serious security chief Sawamura Daichi.  An unlikely circumstance brings them closer than either ever expected.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Sawamura Daichi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 129





	Don't Fall In Love With Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jadehqknb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadehqknb/gifts).



> This was written for Jade in our SS Event! I mix matched a couple of prompts and got a little carried away but I hope you still enjoy it!

_ “Special Forces?” Kuroo can feel his eyebrows raise nearly to his hairline as he looks over the files marked CLASSIFIED on his tablet. Most of it has been redacted but there’s enough information there that Kuroo can take a quick guess that these soldiers did much more important things than run security on a privately owned laboratory. “Is that necessary?” Kuroo asked as he looked at the serious-looking faces in the provided pictures. _

_ “Kuro,” Kozume let out a small huff of air, which was as dramatic as he usually got. “The research you’re doing is important but it is also dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands.” Kuroo didn’t know how his childhood friend managed to make his half unbleached hair look stylish but he would forever be jealous of the effortless way Kozume pulled things off. _

_ “Isn’t that why I hired you?” Kozume was many things but the one most people knew him for was a tech genius. He had wired Kuroo’s entire building with the latest in security. _

_ “Sometimes technology fails.” Kozume admitted easily, shoving his hands into his oversized hoodie. _

_ “So do humans.” Kuroo pointed out mostly for the sake of arguing. He knew he would follow Kozume’s advice because he usually turned out to be right. _

_ “I think the only way these humans would fail is if they were dead.” Kozume said blandly causing Kuroo to snort as he looked down at the file of one Sawamura Daichi. _

_ “Couldn’t you pick someone who looks like they’ve at least smiled once in their life?” Kuroo whined as he looked at the straight laced, uniform wearing man. _

  
  
  
  


“Tell us what we want to know or I order my friend there to shoot him.” Kuroo almost couldn’t process what was happening right in front of him. He understood what he was caught in the middle of but it was as if his brain wouldn’t allow him to fully believe it. “Shoot him on the count of three.”

“No!” Kuroo shouted, reaching out with zip tied hands only to be pulled back harshly. Serious dark brown eyes met his, there was a steadily bleeding cut over his right eye and an already forming bruise on his cheek. They had not only zip tied Sawamura’s hands but had duct taped his mouth but he gave a quick shake of his head, a miniscule reaction but Kuroo knew what it meant.

“Three.” The one who seemed to be in charge of the small group of criminals counted down. Kuroo felt his stomach fall to the ground as the man not holding onto Sawamura held up his gun, aimed it directly at Kuroo’s chief of security. “Two.” Could Kuroo really let them shoot Sawamura when this was all Kuroo’s fault? If he had just let Sawamura do his job properly to begin with, if he hadn’t hampered his every movement.

Sawamura gave another sharp shake of his head, eyes set on Kuroo and hands curled into fists. Kuroo wished this was like a movie where Sawamura could do some awesome but wholly unrealistic gymnastic moves to defeat the bad guys. But Sawamura was already injured and there was a gun digging into Kuroo’s side to dissuade any heroic actions.

Kuroo couldn’t save Sawamura’s life. It would mean the deaths of so many others, a country thrown into fear and turmoil.

“One.” Kuroo shouted as the gun went off. Sawamura’s body spun with the hit before he tripped into the fountain in the middle of the buildings lobby. Everything was deathly silent as they all stared down at the unmoving body floating face down in the water. “Come on.” The leader turned as if he hadn’t just ordered the death of a man.

“Why kill him? We could have used him.” One of the lackeys asked.

“You don’t leave a soldier alive no matter how useful.” The leader informed them, using Kuroo’s keycard to call for the elevator. “Plus there will be plenty of people left to use. Let’s see how many corpses we have to lay at your feet until you give us what we want, hmm?” Kuroo was numb to the threat though part of his brain was panicking in the recesses of his mind. He hoped those that still remained in the building managed to find a safe spot to bunker down.

Sawamura Daichi, a decorated war veteran. A caring son, loving brother, and good friend to anyone who wished it. He was one of the best people Kuroo had ever known and now he was dead. His death was at the hands of these criminals who wanted to take Kuroo’s work and use it for their own personal gain but Kuroo couldn’t help but feel responsible for it.

Sawamura Daichi, a man Kuroo thought he could-

  
  
  
  


_ Strangle. Kuroo never thought of himself as a particularly violent person but he kind of wanted to strangle Sawamura Daichi. Not that he would be very successful considering Sawamura was a trained soldier and Kuroo spent the majority of his day bent over a desk but it was the principle of the thing. _

_ “What part of classified don’t you understand, Sa’mura?” Kuroo asked, purposely pronouncing the other man's name wrong just to see his eye twitch. _

_ “I didn’t ask to know what is being researched here, I requested the files on the employees.” Sawamura reiterated, voice flat but there was a twitch in his cheek that belied his calm facade. _

_ “Which contain personal information which you are not cleared to know.” Kuroo informed the other man, badly hiding his glee at shutting down another one of Sawamura’s bid for control. This was a research facility, not a military base and he’d be damned if he let Sawamura intimidate his employees. “Anyways they have already been vetted.” _

_ “Sir-” _

_ “If that’s all then I have a lot of work to get to.” Kuroo cuts Sawamura off in a way he knows is rude but he really does have a lot of work and a limited amount of time to do it in. Sawamura stiffens before giving a small bow then marching out of Kuroo’s office. _

_ Kuroo really did not like that guy. _

  
  
  
  


Kuroo must have ridden that elevator hundreds of times by that point but it never quite felt each passing floor as he did in that moment. He tried to think of the last time he talked to his mother, not a quick text but an actual conversation to catch up on how her life was going. He had cancelled on plans with Yaku and Kai, too busy to spare a couple hours for lunch.

Another floor passed by.

They had a date planned for that night, Kuroo and Sawamura. Kuroo had promised to “romance the shit” out of Sawamura, who had laughed and told Kuroo he was looking forward to it.

A couple more floors dinged.

Kuroo was a dead man. He knew that was too smart to even try and convince himself that there was any other way out of this. Whether he gave them what they wanted or not he was dead. He had seen their faces, watched them murder a man in cold blood without even flinching.

The elevator began to slow.

The only hope Kuroo could hold out for was that they wouldn’t find anyone else. It was Christmas Eve after all, most people had been gone for the week if not the past two days. Kuroo had come in because his mother had gone to the country to spend the holiday with her sister, he had been invited along but Kuroo hadn’t wanted to take the time off.

It wouldn’t take much to realize that the building was a low capacity. Perhaps a couple days worth of surveillance. There were some that drove to work or carpooled but most took the train or buses, anyone watching from the outside could have seen that only a handful of people came in and most of them left before lunch. But it would take insider knowledge to know the full extent of Kuroo’s involvement with the company, how he had the highest clearance.

The elevator came to a stop and they forced Kuroo forward, placing his hand on the scanner before one of them typed in the six digit code that only Kuroo and a select few knew.

It was an inside job. Not that that information mattered or would help Kuroo in any way. All Kuroo could think was he should have listened to Sawamura, they should have left earlier to go on their date. If only he had listened.

  
  
  
  


_ “You should at least hear what he has to say.” Shirofuku advices as they both pull off their protective layer and put it into the waste bin. Kuroo pulls a face because he knows who she is talking about and already sat through a lecture from Kozume about it. _

_ “I thought I was the boss.” Shirofuku only snorts in answer to that and even Kuroo can admit when he is sound rather childish. He can’t help it, he’s tired of hearing everyone talk about how great Sawamura is. Everyone had nothing but praise for the guy but Kuroo could see how conniving and cunning he really was. _

_ Everyone knew that Kuroo was the lead researcher on the laboratories main study and he had a hand in the smaller studies being conducted there too. There were only a handful of people that knew that Kuroo had actually started this company they all worked at now. Dissatisfied with the work he had been doing previously along with the low wages and poor treatment Kozume, who had already made a small fortune by the time in software design, had offered to buy in as Kuroo’s partner. Kuroo had hired several people to handle the business aspects of the research facility but he, technically, was the owner and CEO of the company. A detail that Kuroo had asked Kozume to bury as deeply as he could. _

_ Kuroo walked besides Shirofuku to the breakroom. It was equipped with a refrigerator, sink, and microwave along with several tables so that is where most people congregated around lunch time. He had stopped to pick up sushi from his favorite place just that morning and he was excited to dig in. Plus he might have ended up working late, again, last night and skipped over dinner. Not that anyone, especially Kozume, needed to know that. _

_ The sound of laughter could be heard from down the hall and Kuroo felt his own lips twitch upwards even if he didn’t know what they were laughing about. He enjoyed having a workplace where people actually enjoyed themselves, where they felt free to sit down and have a break instead of attempting to shove week old udon into their mouths while bent over a computer. Kuroo had far too much experience with that to ever wish it upon his own employees. _

_ Walking into the breakroom brought Kuroo’s good mood crashing down. There were several people in there, which normally Kuroo would have loved to jump into the fray, but they were surrounding one Sawamura Daichi. He even had a hand on Tsukishima Kei’s shoulder and normally that would have earned a scathing remark from the tall blonde but Tsukishima’s lips were curled upwards in amusement that wasn’t caused by direct assisination of someone's character. _

_ Tsukishima was Kuroo’s surly little apprentice, Sawamura had his own in the glowery from of Kageyama Tobio so why where they looking so chummy? _

_ “Retract claws.” Shirofuku whispered so only they could hear, she looked far too amused for this situation. Though once again Kuroo realized how childish he was being but he couldn’t help it. _

_ No one reacted to them as they set about grabbing their own lunches and took up two empty seats. Sawamura looked up, a warmer smile than Kuroo ever thought he could produce without his stern face breaking, nodding a hello to Shirofuku then focusing on Kuroo. Sawamura didn’t lose the smile, not exactly, but it turned into something that made Kuroo sit up a little taller, made his hackles rise. _

_ “I should get back to my rounds.” Sawamura said, earning a few whines and pouts from various people in the breakroom. Kuroo felt distinctly like he was someone who took away everyone's favorite toy. _

_ Shirofuku gave him a knowing look but Kuroo pretended he didn’t see it, too busy eating the sushi that no longer tasted as good as he remembered. _

  
  
  
  
  


“Don’t hit him too hard,” The leader said, sounding bored as Kuroo tried to force his vision to snap together. The double-vision was really making his stomach turn, or perhaps that was the punch to the head. Kuroo had never been hit before. He was an athlete in highschool, had taken a ball or two to the head, even had a collusion with another player before but nothing that compared to it. “The last thing we need to deal with is trying to get information out of someone with a concussion.” Kuroo was pulled to his feet, his cheeks grabbed by a meaty hand that refused to let him pull away.

“Looks alright to me.” The one who had hit Kuroo stated.

“Perhaps someone else can talk some sense into him.” They turned as one, as if they had planned this dramatic little reveal a dozen times. The effect was lost on Kuroo, who had already gone through the possibilities of an enemy on the inside. Daishou Suguru had always been his first guess.

Kuroo could admit some personal bias. Daishou and him had never really gotten along, unable to agree on even the smallest of details. Kozume said they were too similar and Kuroo had told him that Kozume had never said anything as hurtful to Kuroo in his life. But he could see the merit of such an idea, even if he would never openly admit to it. The same way he would never admit that the reason he hired Daishou was to keep him honest. Kuroo often lost the scope of things, so focused on what was before him that he forgot people and things along the way. There were a lot of people who would let him get away with that but Daishou never had been one of them.

Kozume was good to keep Kuroo on track, they complimented each other pretty well. Kuroo reminded Kozume to eat at least two solid meals a day while Kozume kicked Kuroo in the side until Kuroo reluctantly stumbled out of the lab, half exhausted and half wired up on coffee and energy drinks. But they also had a soft spot for each other. Kozume was Kuroos oldest and closest friend, the same for Kozume though he’d never willingly admit it. They went easy on each other, didn’t push too hard to too far.

Daishou had no problem with doing that because he didn’t care if people liked him or not. He would make some smart ass remark that would leave Kuroo seething for an hour until he calmed down enough to realize that there was a nugget of advice in that remark. Daishou was good for business, he kept things running smoothly and he was one of the few people who had known how far Kuroo’s reach went in the company.

Daishou was also completely invested in his self interest, which meant he was the easy guess as to who had betrayed them. But as much of an asshole as Daishou was, as much as he claimed to dislike Kuroo, Kuroo knew that couldn’t be it. Daishou was a big picture person and there was no big picture here. He betrayed the company, ended up getting a man murdered, and for what?

Money?

The man was highly motivated by monetary value but that was exactly why Kuroo paid him so well. There was no long term benefits to this that would work out for Daishou and he had to know that.

Kuroo took in Daishou’s pasty skin, the dark circles beneath his eyes and the subtle tremble in his hands. Kuroo was pretty positive that Daishou knew that neither of them were walking out of this room alive, whether or not Kuroo gave the intruders what they wanted. Which left Kuroo with only one option left.

They had Mika.

  
  
  
  


_ Kuroo sat under the kotatsu with a relieved groan, the feeling slowly returning to his numb legs. Kuroo never really thought about his height too much unless it was the dead of winter and every inch of him was freezing due to poor circulation. A cat happily took his opportunity to curl itself up in Kuroo’s lap and Kuroo hummed as he ran his cold fingers through the short fur. _

_ “Here.” A steaming mug of tea was placed down in front of Kuroo. He would usually whine about the choice of tea over coffee, and it was most likely uncaffeinated also, but it was warm so that was all Kuroo cared about at the moment. “And read this.” Kozume put down a tablet with a document already opened up. _

_ Kuroo took a small sip of the tea, wrapping his numb fingers around it before looking down at the tablet. _

_ “You always complain I work too much and when I leave the office early for once you put more work in front of me.” Kuroo complained but he pulled the tablet closer to him. He had left his glasses in his bag, which was by the front door, but there was no way Kuroo was getting up once he had finally began to feel warm again. _

_ Kozume didn’t even bother answering as he flipped through the channels on the television, finally settling on some new animated show about a lost prince and dragons. Kuroo stored that information away for later considering Kozume hardly watched tv and this wasn’t something he would normally be interested in. It definitely seemed like something a certain new mohawk having security guard would watch though. _

_ Kuroo made kissing noises because he had no self control, earning nothing but a glare from Kozume. Kuroo grinned before looking back down at the tablet, grin quickly turning into a frown as he realized what he was looking at. _

_ “Are these financial records for one of our employees?” Kuroo asked. Kozume was more of a morally gray kind of person when it came to such things but mostly he could be counted on not breaking the law due to pure laziness and a disinterest in his fellow humans. _

_ “Everything was obtained legally, it’s not as if it’s bank records.” Kozume stated blandly, not mentioning that he could very easily get the bank statements if he so choose to. _

_ Kuroo continued reading, frown becoming deeper as he noticed the inconsistencies. Payroll wasn’t part of his job but he knew what each employee made and unless this particular one was making a second, far superior, income at another job then he was spending far more than he was earning. _

_ Several nights out at extremely expensive restaurants, valet parking, a couple trips to various jewelry stores and high end luxury clothing boutiques were just the lower end of the spectrum. If the statements were to believed than he was paying everything in cash too, not even touching his bank account. _

_ When Kuroo had first started his research lab he had done his best to hire as many researchers as he could. He knew how difficult the job market was, knew what it felt like to work two minimum wage jobs when he had an advanced degree, and he wanted to help out in any way possible. A lot of those hires had worked out, like Tsuskihima but some didn’t quite pull their own weight. _

_ Kurokawa was someone firmly stuck in the latter group. He did just enough to say he did the work without actually doing any of the heavy lifting. He was lazy, Daishou had called him stupid on many occassions and even Kozume had agreed. He was the type of person who let others do all the work and offered to put everyone's work into a single powerpoint just so he could put his name on it. _

_ Kuroo didn’t care what people spend their money on. Kozume liked the comforts in life, Kuroo had a small collection of very nice coats, Bokuto had a collection of old and mostly useless cameras. If Kurokawa liked the nicer things then who was Kuroo to say anything badly about it? _

_ Except there was an information leak at the company. Someone with enough clearance was giving away classified formulas. Not enough to be noticable, not at first, but there was one company who always seemed to be one step ahead of Kuroo’s which wouldn’t be a problem except it wasn’t a company that had ever been a direct competitor of Kuroo’s. _

_ “Are we certain he’s the one leaking information?” Kuroo asked, rubbing his closed eyes as if that would make the information in front of him change. _

_ “Swipe to the left.” Kozume instructed him and Kuroo took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself as he did so. “The man in the picture Kurokawa is meeting is a lawyer, their biggest client our direct competitor.” Kuroo put the tablet down and idly pet the cat in his lap, his mind jumping from one thought to the next without any reason. “You should give Sawamura a raise.” _

_ “What?” Kuroo looked up, surprised at the mention of the security chiefs name. _

_ “He’s the one that brought all this evidence to me.” Kozume gave Kuroo a bland look. “Though he should have been able to bring it to you. He has daily interactions with everyone, he or his team notices things. You should listen to him or if you have that big of a problem with him you should hire someone you do trust.” _

_ Trust wasn’t a problem and Kuroo certainly wouldn’t make the same mistake twice as to not listen to Sawamura again. He wouldn’t allow personal biases to get in the way of his business, something he had put everything he had into building and making successful. Kuroo knew his issue with Sawamura were more personal than anything and that was on him to fix. _

  
  
  
  


“Just tell them what they want to know and we all walk out of here.” There was none of the usual showmanship in Daishou’s speech, his voice wasn’t pitched perfectly to carry across the room, and there were no wide hand movements to accompany his usually dramatic words. He looked exhausted and terrified. Part of that terror might be for himself, it was clear to Kuroo who had known Daishou since they were kids that Daishou didn’t believe a word he was saying. Yet Kuroo believed most of that fear was for Mika.

Mika was Daishou’s on again, off again girlfriend. Daishou had seemed to be in a horrible mood the past couple weeks and Kuroo had taken that as proof that they were more off than on. Daishou’s mood had always been directly connected to Mika’s proximity to him. Mika was generally thought of as the better of the nicer, kinder and friendlier but she could be just as stubborn as Daishou. She didn’t like being but second to Daishou’s career and they both had been trying to work on their own insecurities and issues.

Kuroo couldn’t help but feel partially responsible for this even though he knew he shouldn’t. They had probably been buying information from Kurokawa but Kuroo had cut off a willing participant when he fired Kurokawa. He had apologized to Sawamura with meat buns and access to all employee records on the promise that Sawamura would be discreet in his investigation.

Only two other employees were fired after Kurokawa, replaced by those with better work ethics and a healthy dose of respect and trust within the company. Kuroo had gotten rid of any willing informants so they had to go a different route.

Daishou was a highly private person, he had no family, very few friends, and a well known dislike of Kuroo. They might have tried to bribe or blackmail him at first, which would have only made Daishou laugh. So they took it a step further, they threatened the one person Daishou cared more about than himself.

Daishou knew there was no chance of either him or Kuroo walking out of there alive but there might still be a chance for Mika. There might be a chance for the couple of people still left in the building. If they got what they needed there would be no reason to hunt down the others, there wouldn’t be a reason to hurt Mika if she didn’t know anything about this and Daishou would have made sure that she had the best chance of survival. So he broke up with her, he distanced himself, he most likely told them if they hurt her he would go to the police no matter what that meant for himself.

Kuroo’s fingers shook as he realized once again there was no help coming for him or for Daishou, but they had the chance to save other people. When given that option there really was no other choice.

  
  
  
  


_ “You look like you need a drink.” Kuroo jumped and looked up into the amused face of Sawamura. He was leaning against the door in his full black outfit that looked unfairly good on him. Even when Kuroo loudly proclaimed his dislike of Sawamura he could admit there was something about the clean shaven soldier that was physically appealing. _

_ Kuroo leaned over to his desk phone and pretended to push a button. _

_ “Security? That strange man who keeps breaking into my office is back.” Kuroo said, earning a snicker from Sawamura. _

_ “Those phones don’t work like that.” Sawamura pointed out, which was something Kuroo already knew but it was a joke. _

_ “Is it a prerequisite to join the army to have no sense of humor or is that just a you thing?” Kuroo asked, leaning his cheek onto his fist as he watched the corner of Sawamura’s lip twitch. He couldn’t tell if it was from annoyance or amusement, perhaps some mixture of the two. _

_ “Actually during the interview process they tell you jokes and if you laugh, you’re out.” Sawamura said, earning a surprised laugh from Kuroo. _

_ “I’m sorry do my ears deceive me? Was that an, albeit a bad one, joke from one Sawamura Daichi?” Kuroo grinned as Sawamura rolled his eyes at his dramatics. _

_ “Do you want that drink or not?” Sawamura asked but there was no bite to his voice. _

_ “Why Sawamura, are you asking me out on a date?” Kuroo asked. _

_ “Forget about it.” Sawamura turned around causing Kuroo to laugh and yell out a wait as he shoved his papers and laptop into his bag. He jogged out to the hall, noting that Sawamura was waiting right by the door for him, half smile on his face. _

_ “What are we drinking to?” Kuroo asked as they began to walk down the hall together. Sawamura walked at a brisk pace, which worked well to keep up with Kuroo’s longer legs. _

_ “You’ve never had to fire anyone before, have you?” Sawamura asked. Kuroo stared at the closed elevator doors for a long moment, their polished surface reflecting himself and Sawamura back at them. Sawamura waited patiently by Kuroo’s side as he absorbed that question. _

_ Three people had been fired and Kuroo was the one who had to sign the papers for it. Kuroo had taken Sawamura’s advice into account but ultimately it had been his decision. It had been difficult, Kuroo had worked closely with all three of them. He knew it was the best decision for the company but that still hadn’t made it any easier. _

_ “Do I get a nice fatherly lecture over our first shared beer?” Kuroo asked as they stepped into the elevator. “What are you doing?” Kuroo questioned Sawamura when he saw the other man take out his phone and start texting. _

_ “Seeing if I can get reassigned somewhere else.” Sawamura answered blandly, causing Kuroo to cackle until Sawamura looked at him blankly. _

_ “You can’t fool me, you wouldn’t leave because you’ve grown attached.” Kuroo leaned into Sawamura’s space though he made sure not to be too overbearing. Sawamura and Kuroo might be getting along better but he didn’t want the other man to feel uncomfortable. Though if someone did make an unwanted move on the soldier in a small confined space like an elevator it would probably be the last thing they did.  _

_ “I do like this job, though some aspects are less appearing than others.” Sawamura shot Kuroo a pointed look but Kuroo only grinned down at him. _

_ “Be careful with what you say Sa’mura, you’re going to fall in love with me and this conversation will be mighty embarrassing when I inevitably bring it up.” Kuroo joked. _

_ “Unlikely.” Sawamura dismissed the silly notion, stepping out of the elevator when it opened up on the ground floor. _

  
  
  
  


Kuroo watched blankly as the intruders went through the lab, stealing harddrives, laptops, and vials alike. Luckily they were smart enough to bring a specially designed case but even watching them handle the vials made Kuroo’s stomach swoop low with anxiety.

There was no profit in cures, that was what Kuroo had been told repeatedly by his professors and employers alike. Treating the symptoms, making people dependant on a substance for perhaps their entire life was where the money in pharmaceuticals and the research industry lay. It had been a hard lesson for Kuroo to learn and it had been drilled into his mind.

Yet when Kuroo opened up his own research facility he set his sights on a cure. Working towards one goal with smaller but still related research on the side. If he spent the rest of his life finding the cure to just one disease then he would say that was a life well spent.

Unluckily, or luckily depending on who was viewing it, Kuroo’s research had him stumble upon a deadly virus. The government had plans of taking it and sealing it away, which Kuroo was happy to agree with even if it would set his own research back. But then the government decided it wanted a cure for the virus because if Kuroo could stumble upon it, it was only a matter of time until someone else discovered it. If not the same strand then something similar. Kuroo hadn’t been happy to keep the virus in his lab, had shut it off to the majority of his employees.

Only a handful of people had known about it. Kurokawa had been one, though he hadn’t been put on the team to find a cure. He had enough access to grant him more information than he should have had.

“What were you even doing here?” Daishou whispered harshly, his grip on Kuroo’s bicep on the verge of being painful but Kuroo hardly felt it. They had left Daishou to guard Kuroo because their captors knew neither of them stood a chance if they decided to run for it or fight.

“I was grabbing my laptop.” Kuroo answered, voice sounding strange even to his own ears. He had forgotten his laptop from the previous workday, Sawamura had offered to go in with him and help chase out the stragglers and workaholics from the building.

Kuroo had sat down at his desk, saying he just wanted to finish up a report or two while he was there. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had just grabbed his laptop and ushered Sawamura out would the other man be alive right now? Would they be heading to their dinner date, flushed from the cold weather and first date jitters? Sawamura had still been in uniform, perhaps they would have stopped off at his flat so he could change. Kuroo had only seen Sawamura in streetwear a handful of times but it was nice each time. He had a penchant for thick sweaters and flannels he liked to push up the sleeves to his elbows.

Kuroo had been looking forward to getting to know Sawamura better. He knew so little about the other man but what little he did know he had a tendency to like. Kuroo knew Sawamura took his neighbor's dog on a run every morning, partially because his neighbor just had back surgery and couldn’t keep up with his dog but mostly because Sawamura loved dogs and missed having one. He knew Sawamura joined the military right after high school, that he had always had ideas of being a civil servant but he also liked the idea of being a teacher. Sawamura was stern and stubborn in a lot of situations but he could be unbelievably kind and understanding.

Kuroo didn’t try and mentally correct himself for not referring to Sawamura in the past tense because what did it matter? He was going to be dead soon too.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen today.” Daishou muttered, though Kuroo thought he was mostly talking to himself consider Kuroo was pretty unresponsive.

“They were supposed to have come tomorrow.” Kuroo said, voice fuzzy in his ears as he watched the man who had shot Sawamura push over a monitor and send it crashing to the floor. It would make sense, the building would be completely empty. Not even Kuroo had plans to come into work on Christmas. “You were going to let them in by yourself.” Kuroo looked at Daishou as the realization hit him.

Daishou had been playing to die by himself on Christmas Day.

“They must have been worried I’d double cross them and pushed the plan a day ahead of schedule.” Daishou gritted his teeth, sharp eyes narrowed in anger and bitterness. Kuroo had no doubt Daishou planned to enact some sort of revenge, whether he was dead or not.

“Shut up, no more talking.” The leader yelled at them after securing the vials.

Kuroo’s heart slammed into his throat as he realized what was coming next. He thought he had mentally prepared for this moment but he wasn’t sure if anyone could actually ever be prepared to die. Sawamura had looked so calm when he shook his head, he must have known what was going to happen.

A silly, stupid thought crossed Kuroo’s mind that almost made him start giggling out of the sheer absurdity of it. All he could think of was he should have kissed Sawamura when he had the chance.

  
  
  
  


_ Kuroo scrubbed at his face as he was hit with ridiculously cold water. His teeth chattered as he fumbled with the zip on his white suit. _

_ “You have to strip.” Kuroo said and it was a testament to Sawamura’s trust in him at that moment that he started to pull off layers without hesitation. It was cramped in the decontamination chamber, meant to hold multiple people but Kuroo and Sawamura were a little big larger than the average sized person. _

_ Sawamura seemed to be navigating the space better than Kuroo, who continually had to mutter out apologizes for nearly elbowing Sawamura in the face or stepping on his foot. If the situation wasn’t so dire Kuroo might even have enjoyed sharing a shower with Sawamura, especially if the water hadn’t been almost to the point of freezing. _

_ “Wash everything?” Kuroo asked, kicking their sopping wet clothes to the side so he would stop tripping over them. He tried to have a medicom amount of professionalism and not look down at Sawamura and all the skin that was revealed. _

_ “Yes.” Sawamura answered quickly. Kuroo hit a button on the wall of the decontamination chamber, the water turned off and a door opened, letting them both into another small room. This one was bigger than the shower, brightly lit and up to that point unused. _

_ “There should be sterile towels over here.” Kuroo teeth chattered as he huddled in on himself before tossing a towel over to Sawamura and wrapping himself up in a second. _

_ There was a moment of silence, only broken by the loud alarm ringing from the lab connected to the white room, before Kuroo picked up on the distinct sound of snickering. He turned, unable to look away once his eyes got a glance of Sawamura dressed in nothing but a towel slung low around his waist. _

_ “Are you laughing?” Kuroo asked, eyebrows raised in astonishment. _

_ “I’m sorry you just-” Sawamura laughed, covered his mouth and gave an honest to god guwaff of amusement. “You look so pathetic. Like a little wet kitten.” Kuroo made an indignant sound as he tried to push his hair out of his face. _

_ “Excuse me for not looking my best when we were just hit with an unknown substance in a highly secure laboratory.” Kuroo said. Sawamura pressed his lips together and attempted to look contrite before laughter once again shook his body. “Sorry we can’t all look like greek gods right after a freezing cold shower.” Sawamura grinned at him, looking confused. _

_ “Wait, what did you just say?” Sawamura asked, brows pushing together before a door swooshed open. _

_ “False alarm.” Konoha looked deeply amused as he stepped into the room, his eyes lingering on Sawamura for a moment. “It was just dust, but it’s good to know the decontamination showers work.” _

_ “Always happy to be a guinea pig.” Kuroo muttered. “Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll try and muster any dignity I have left and try and scrounge up some not drenched clothing.” Kuroo began to walk out before turning to Sawamura. “Do you need something to wear?” _

_ “I have a spare uniform in my locker.” Sawamura wiped at some water dripping down his chest. Kuroo did not let himself watch the movement though Konoha seemed to have no such qualms. _

_ “Of course you do.” Kuroo turned around and attempted to walk normally out of the room and down the hall. _

_ Later that day Kuroo wasn’t surprised when Sawamura sought him out to talk to him. _

_ “I know we should hire a cleaning crew so something like that doesn’t happen again.” Kuroo couldn’t look at Sawamura, instead focused on the sad looking sandwich in front of him. He was specifically not thinking about the previously unknown tattoos, as in multiple, Sawamura had on his torso along with a wickedly deep looking scar that stretched over his shoulder blades. Kuroo definitely didn’t think about tracing the tattoos and scar with his fingers or perhaps his tongue. _

_ “Actually I had something else I wanted to ask you.” Kuroo looked up despite himself. “Do you have any plans, say for next Tuesday?” Kuroo blinked as he thought about that. They had gone out for drinks a lot since that first time, though there were always other employees or security team members with them. But this was different. _

_ “Next Tuesday is Christmas Eve.” Kuroo stated slowly and watched as Sawamura’s lips stretched into a warm smile even as his ears turned red. _

_ “I know.” Kuroo stared once again. “If you don’t want to- if you don’t feel the same then-” _

_ “No I do!” Kuroo called out, shocking them both with the sheer volume of his tone and the sincerity of the words. He cleared his throat and sat back in his chair, felt his face warm in embarrassment. “I mean, I do feel- I would like to have plans with you.” _

_ “Good, that’s good.” Kuroo had always thought there was a certain boyish charm to Sawamura when he smiled, but that was nothing to the sheer light that poured out of him as he aimed a beaming look at Kuroo. “Dinner then?” _

_ “Yeah, dinner sounds great.” Kuroo couldn’t help but smile back. Part of him wanted to stand up, walk over to Sawamura and kiss him now that he knew his feelings were returned but he could wait until after their dinner. Kuroo had never been a traditionalist but he thought he could bend a little if it was for Sawamura Daichi. _

  
  
  
  


The three men faced Kuroo and Daishou and they knew this was it. Daishou’s fingers were digging into Kuroo’s bicep, would probably leave bruises not that it would matter in a couple minutes. Kuroo thought of his mother, how he was supposed to spend Christmas with her and the Kozume’s like they had for the past two decades. For the first time he wished for a sibling so his mother wouldn’t be alone. Kozume was going to be so angry. Kuroo was glad that Kozume had been called off to a conference in another country, he wouldn’t be back home until the next day so he was safe.

A red dot appeared on the wall behind the intruders, it blinked in and out of existence in three short bursts. The grip Daishou had on Kuroo tightened, showing that he saw it also and all too sudden Kuroo was being shoved to the ground and there was the sound of glass breaking.

Kuroo was yanked and basically dragged out of the room as more glass exploded and the sound of gunfire deafened Kuroo. He was sat up against the hall wall and for one exhilarating moment he saw short brown hair and dark skin and thought it was Sawamura.

Yet green eyes blinked at him, green not the brown Kuroo had been expecting. Iwaizumi’s mouth moved but Kuroo couldn’t hear anything.

It all seemed to anticlimactic at the end. From the beginning of the intruders capturing Kuroo to him sitting in the back of a surveillance van outside had been less than an hour. Two ambulances had come and gone, taking the injured shooters off to hospital since neither Daishou or Kuroo were seriously injured.

They had given Kuroo a blanket, sat him in the back of the van and told him not to touch anything. He had heard the words  _ shock _ and  _ dissociating _ but he didn’t think either of those things were happening. He knew where he was, what was happening, and he was present for all of that but none of that changed the fact that Sawamura Daichi was dead and Kuroo had thought he was next.

“You look like shit.” Matsukawa was leaning into the back door of the van, looking Kuroo over. He was dressed in all black like the rest of the security team, though there was a large and very intimidating looking black gun slung across his back that usually wasn’t there. “We’re going to take you to the hospital, don’t vomit back here.” Matsukawa closed the doors, the loud sound making Kuroo cringe away from it, huddle closer in the blanket.

It had all been pre-planned. Daishou had planned to double cross them, he had made the security team aware almost immediately of what was happening. They had a plan that was supposed to happen on Christmas, Sawamura had been in on it since the beginning. No one was supposed to lose their life.

Kiyoko took up the passenger seat as Matsukawa started the van. She glanced back at Kuroo, looking him over with an unreadable look behind her glasses. She had been the sniper who had given Daishou the signal that they were set up and ready to come in.

“I’m sorry.” Kuroo said because he felt like he had to apologize to these people. He had forming the beginning of a romantic relationship with Sawamura built upon months of dislike turned rivalry turned reluctant friendship. Yet these people had known him for years, had worked under him in some of the worst conditions. They trusted each other, Kuroo knew from watching them interact that they had built a close knit family. And now they were having to take care of Kuroo while trying to cope with the loss of a family member.

“For what?” Matsukawa glanced at Kuroo in the rear view mirror as he slid his way effortlessly through the thick traffic.

“For-” Kuroo wasn’t sure if he could get the words out. He knew it was already true without saying it but it was as if some part of him was still in denial. “For what happened to Sawamura.”

“It’s not the first time he’s been shot and he told you not to give up the information.” Matsukawa said with a shrug which deeply confused Kuroo. Kiyoko then made a small noise of understanding.

“He’s not dead.” Kuroo almost leaped forward at that but his body felt too heavy to move. “He was wearing a kevlar vest. He has a couple broken ribs and they are making sure there’s no internal bleeding, that’s why he isn’t here.”

“No one told you?” Matsukawa’s fuzzy eyebrows knit together before he laughed. “That’s bullshit.”

Kuroo was taken to the hospital but he refused treatment until he could see Sawamura. He didn’t think Kiyoko would lie to him, though he wasn’t too sure about Matsukawa but he needed to see for himself. He needed to make sure that what they said was true, that Sawamura was actually alive, that Kuroo hadn’t played a hand in getting him killed.

Kuroo was neither family nor on Sawamura’s emergency contact list so it was difficult to even get a glimpse of him. But then an angel in disguise as a doctor with silver hair and a mole beneath his eye rescued Kuroo and brought him back to Sawamura’s room.

“Honestly this is more selfish on my behalf than any true need to help you.” The doctor, Sugawara Koushi said with a cheerful smile. “I was going to have to heavily sedate him to keep him down and resting but if he sees you maybe he’ll do it without being drugged. One can only hope.” Kuroo had a feeling Sugawara and Sawamura knew each other but he was not in the headspace to figure that out, especially when Sugawara stepped into a room and motioned to Kuroo to follow.

“Kuroo?” Sawamura’s voice was raspy but it was clearly the same deep bass that Kuroo had grown to very much like.

“I thought you were dead.” Kuroo collapsed into the chair besides Sawamura’s bed.

“I’m sorry, there was no way to tell you.” Sawamura apologized but Kuroo was already shaking his head. He hesitantly placed his hand on the cot, fingers brushing against Sawamura’s. His knuckles were bruised, the skin cracked and broken on two of them. His nose had a bandage over it, his eyes circled in dark blue. His chest was bare so Kuroo could see the wrapping around his abdomen. He looked exhausted and beat to hell but when he gripped Kuroo’s hand it was strong and warm.

“You are beat up and laying in a hospital bed, how do you still look so good?” Kuroo joked half heartedly because it seemed like they both needed it. Sawamura smiled even as his eyelids started to droop down.

“And you look like a little kid who got beat up for their lunch money.” Sawamura joked, voice fighting sleep. Kuroo ran his thumb softly over his bruised knuckles, careful of the broken skin.

“Who are you kidding Sa’mura, you’re dangerously close to falling in love with me.” Kuroo leaned against the side of the bed and Sawamura tilted his head on his pillow to look at him better.

“You wish.” Sawamura mumbled, eyes finally closing shut.

Later Kuroo would be chased out of the room, giving a cot of his own and treated for minor injuries and the shock he denied having. But at that moment he studied the steady rise and fall of Sawamura’s chest, felt the soft exhales against his cheek and allowed himself to truly believe that they were safe.


End file.
